3 Answers
3

No. There is nothing to indicate such. The passage gives no length of time between the drink and dying so you can assume that he died immediately or later. Neither suggests a suicide and the time becomes irrelevant to your question.
The text in the Gospels indicates that he knew he was going to die and his words indicate that he was willing. He died for a cause. So his death is a sacrifice and not a suicide. Suicide occurs by one's own hands.

In answer to your first question: no, Jesus' giving up His spirit was most definitely not suicide.

Remember that Jesus said

"'No man taketh [my life] from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father'" (John 10:18).

Unlike us mortals, Jesus possessed within Himself the power of an eternal life, both prior to and after His incarnation. The immortal life of God the Son could never die; the life of Jesus as the Son of man, however, could experience physical death, though not the corruption that inevitably follows the death of a mere mortal (see
Acts 2:31 and 37).

When Jesus therefore bowed His head and gave up His spirit, He was not committing suicide; rather, He was committing His immortal life to the Father, whose work of redemption He had just accomplished. Notice the order of the apostle John's words,

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said , 'It is finished': and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost" (John 19:30 KJV).

In other words, Jesus first cried Tetelestai!, "Accomplished"; second, he bowed His sacred head (as Bach put it in his St. Matthew Passion); and third, only then did He release His spirit. Yes, Jesus' release of His spirit was a deliberate act on His part, though the cause of His death was neither suicide nor homicide; rather, it was the last miracle He performed prior to His resurrection. Who but the Son of God could of His own volition dismiss His spirit from His body?

In conclusion, when Jesus finished the work His Father gave Him to do, there was no need for the divine Jesus to remain on the cross. He had suffered enough; His blood, which was the price of our redemption had been shed; He had borne the wrath of God as the sacrificial Lamb of God; and He had taken away the sin of the world. At that point there was nothing left for Him to accomplish in time and space but to allow His body to be buried and then prepare for His glorious resurrection on the third day, according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3,4).

**ADDENDUM**

Re-read John 10:18 and then ponder the mystery of what happened at the cross.

Unlike Adam, the first man, Jesus, the second Adam and also a man, had inherently in His flesh the power of an immortal life. Had He NOT voluntarily offered up His life for the forgiveness of our sins; had He NOT experienced the death we all deserved and which He clearly did not deserve, crucifixion would not have killed Him. How can you make someone who is immortal, mortal? You cannot. The

". . . Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit . . ." (1 Peter 3:18 KJV).

Moreover, had Jesus not died, we (myself included) would still be in our sins and destined for hell. Jesus was under a divine imperative, which He fulfilled to the letter:

"Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer . . . and to enter into His glory? . . . All things written about Me . . . must be fulfilled"(Lk 24:26,44, my emphasis).

The redemption He secured for us at the cross was planned within the Godhead in the counsels of eternity. We were redeemed

". . . with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of . . . [us]" (1 Peter 1:18-20).

Jesus was

<". . . the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world" (Revelation 13:8 NIV).

In the mind of the Godhead, the death of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29,36), was a fait accompli before the universe was spoken into existence! Jesus' death in time and space was simply and profoundly the fulfillment of two unchangeable things:

God's eternal plan of redemption, and

God's Word; specifically, the fulfillment of all the prophecies concerning God's Son, our Lord and Savior, in

". . . the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms . . ." (Luke 24:44).

I thank God for the miracle of Calvary. I thank God that as a young child I realized Jesus was my Savior who died in my place at the cross. As someone said,

"There is something to believe, and there is someone to receive."

When we believe Jesus died "for me" and mean it, God, who has already imputed our sin to Jesus on the cross, graciously imputes Jesus' righteousness to us. When we then realize we have been forgiven a debt we could not pay, but now by faith we can become the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21), we simply and humbly receive Jesus into our lives. He then, truly, becomes our Lord and our Savior.

If you have not already believed and received, I encourage you to do so today.

"Behold, now is 'THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,' behold now is the 'THE DAY OF SALVATION'" (2 Corinthians 6:2b).

@rhetorician-- you wrote: "he bowed His sacred head". In what Bible version did you find that?
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Pat FergusonSep 27 '13 at 21:36

It's not in a Bible version; it's the name of a chorus from Bach's oratorio "St. Matthew's Passion," I believe. The chorus is called "O Sacred Head Now Wounded." Sorry if I gave the impression I was quoting Scripture. I'll amend my answer accordingly.
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rhetoricianSep 27 '13 at 21:57

@Rhetorician-The miracle of the "blood and water" separating(John 19:34-35) reveals the important truth which you brought out. In 1 John 5:8 he repeats the importance of it; confirming what the centurion said in Mark 15:39,"Truly this man was the Son of God." Thank you for your response!
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TauSep 28 '13 at 7:39

Surely, taking one's own physical life on earth by whatever means as a deliberate act and fully cognizant, is suicide. Does the Greek text give a different version? Did Jesus die as a result of the crucifixion or 'by his own hand'?
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gideon marxSep 28 '13 at 10:47

A deliberate act, yes; suicide, no. According to the Greek text, Jesus παρεδωκεν (surrendered) his spirit. Jesus apparently had a supernatural ability (a power seemingly given only to immortal beings) to do that.

Mortal human beings subject to physical death by violence or "natural causes" do not.

Could I get absolute clarity. According to the Greek text, did Jesus deliberately end his own life on earth? Yes or no.
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gideon marxSep 28 '13 at 10:31

Perhaps, for "absolute clarity," you'll need to personally ask the One who performed the act? But, since crucifixion was a somewhat lengthy experience for some victims, the Gospel accounts seem clear: Jesus surrendered his life before he died from the effects of being cruelly executed in that manner.
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Pat FergusonOct 1 '13 at 19:34

Thank you for that because your answer makes the miracle (to breathe out and not in) clear and the rest I can judge for myself.
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gideon marxOct 3 '13 at 18:08